


The Last of Us: One Night Live - Days of You and Me

by Heartstringsss



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Gen, Main Game Spoilers, One Night Live Spoilers, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 20:04:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10624167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heartstringsss/pseuds/Heartstringsss
Summary: Returning to Jackson, Joel and Ellie have settled in Tommy's community - living life one day at a time. Somewhere along the road, Ellie discovers the truth regarding the downfall of the Fireflies organization, growing distant due to her survivor's guilt and moral dilemma. Joel seeks to fix things between himself and Ellie - restoring their fatherly-daughterly love.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! :) I figured, as my first post; I'd do a text-based reimagining of the "One Night Live" performance, for the video game of "The Last of Us", by Naughty Dog. This scene wasn't included in the actual game, but was acted out as a live stage drama, during a fan-conference. Unfortunately, this last segment was meant to be a "secret epilogue", so not a lot of fans were able to see it. 
> 
> There is absolutely no way that my writing could come close to the level of emotion and talent that Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson displayed on stage, so I can only hope that this comes close, and does it some justice. Lastly - it's been many years since I've done any form of creative writing (since I've been stuck in medical school), so please forgive me if the scene-setting is poor, or if the tone is all over the place! :)

 

The moonlight seeps through the bedroom window, illuminating Ellie’s simple and normal bedroom – normal for a teenage girl in a post-apocalyptic world, that is. “ _Dawn of the Wolf_ ” posters can be seen, likely scavenged with Joel during her journey home, decorating the bland drywall. Nothing else but a single bed, nightstand, broken lamp, wobbly desk and swivel chair keep her company. As 90’s pop-rock music blares full volume into her ears (played on a suitably vintage WM-1 Walkman), Ellie scribbles away, recording her thoughts on a tiny notepad of a diary. Oblivious to her, Joel knocks on the shabby wooden door. No response. He tries again, to no avail. Third time’s the charm, supposedly, and he taps on the door, calling out “ _Ellie, you in there_?”

Stubborn and worried, Joel walks right into her room, placing a hand on Ellie’s shoulder…

 

“ _Whoa!_ ” she yelps out, jolting back instinctively - one could only be jumpy in such a scenario. Ellie was wise-beyond-her-years, given the primary need for survival, and was arguably the toughest, bravest fourteen-year-old the world has ever seen. But with everything she’s been through; losing Riley, fighting off the infected, cannibals, kidnapping, David…

“ _I didn’t mean to startle you.”_ Joel states, in his characteristically gruff, southern accent. Ellie settles her nerves, getting up and removing her headphones. “ _It’s okay_.” An awkward silence ensues between them. Who knew a brief ten seconds could feel like agonizing hours…?

The pause finally breaks, and Ellie inquires; “ _What’s up?”_ Despite this, there’s an air of tension, not unlike the atmosphere in the aftermath of a huge father-daughter argument. It had been a whole month since the duo returned to Jackson, settling into Tommy’s self-sufficient community. By the same token, it had been an entire month since Ellie confessed her survivor’s guilt - an entire month since Joel lied about the downfall of the Fireflies, an entire month since he swore upon the existence of other “immunes”.

But Ellie never gave up her suspicions, and somewhere along the road, her sixth-sense in questioning Joel’s honesty brought her the truth. Ever since losing Sarah in the outbreak, Ellie had been a daughter-figure to Joel, and the old-timer had been a father-figure to Ellie, one that she never had. Although his actions were out of love – there was an element of tainted, humanistic selfishness. His attempt in covering up reality, only made Ellie’s moral dilemma worse – to feel alive, or to be a product of sacrifice in developing a cure for the cordyceps infection, to be the key to mankind’s survival.

Hesitantly, Joel starts off…” _We…uhhh, we haven’t talked in a while. Just wanted to check in on you. A couple kids found some water guns and were playing around outside today. Not gonna join ‘em?”_ Ellie breathes in, taking a sigh. “ _I’m busy. And needed, to help Maria repair the outer wall. I don’t have time for…water-guns.”_ Joel takes a seat on the corner of her bed, taking a moment of respite to recover from the wear-and-tear of his tired, surviving body. _“You know, Kiddo, everyone here in Jackson’s been mighty impressed with you. It’s alright to take a break once in a while.”_

Another moment of silence kicks in. Sensing that he’s going nowhere with the conversation, Joel switches up the subject, clearing his throat. _“I’m part of the Jackson Militia group now. Tommy made me join ‘em.”_ He chuckles, nervously. “ _He says I can take care of myself well enough, and I can handle a couple guns. Always with the silver-tongue, Tommy…wasn’t ever much of a sureshot though. Anyway…he put me in a patrol group with Esther. She’s got a great sense of humor, Ellie. I think you’d like her. Why, just the other day she told me one of them jokes that you like.”_

Joel shuffles, trying desperately to gauge Ellie’s response…” _Now, how did it go again?”_ Mumbling to himself, the old-man fails to jump start his memory, and Ellie interrupts; “ _It’s late now Joel…I should probably get back to Maria and keep repairing the wall.”_ Joel was never one to know defeat. _“I have something I want to show you – I’ll just take a minute, just one minute!”_ He leaves, scurrying rapidly through the bedroom door, and returning with a refurbished guitar in hand.

Sarcastically, Ellie scoffs and says “ _What’s THAT supposed to be?”_ Pouring on his Texas accent, Joel returns the same playful sarcasm – “ _Well, I done hear that some people call this a gee-tar!”_ A faint chuckle finally escapes her lips.

_“I know **that**.” _ She asks him again… “ _Well, what’s it for?”_ Joel resumes his original seat upon Ellie’s bed, and confesses that he’s been working on a song – the solemn tone of his voice hinting that it was an original, and that he had begun writing it for Sarah.  Ellie takes a seat on her swivel-chair, drawing up her legs, intrigued by Joel’s proposal. He begins strumming away at the guitar, plucking the individual strings, playing a few warm-up chords – finally opening up his voice and singing his true feelings.

 

 

The musical performance is tender, Joel recalling the pain that they’ve gone through – but more importantly – how much it means to him that they still have each other, as the broken, patchy and surviving family that they are. Ellie sits silently, her face buried into her knees as tears trickle down her cheeks, wiping them away slowly.  

Joel and the guitar fall silent, the song drawing to a close. Ellie emotionally responds; “ _That was beautiful, Joel…”_ The tension in the atmosphere had completely dissipated, replaced by genuine, fatherly-daughterly love. The old-man stands up, extending the guitar out to Ellie…“ _Wait, wait, I can’t play, Joel!”_ she stammered and hesitated. “ _I know. But I promised you I’d teach you how to play the guitar. Take it, it’s yours.”_ Touched that Joel remembered, from many months ago, Ellie reaches out for the guitar, and another silence falls in the room – albeit a warm one this time around.

“ _It’s getting late, and we both need our rest baby-girl.”_ Joel excuses himself, making for the exit… Ellie, hugging the guitar and falling back into the swivel chair, prods; “ _So what was the joke you heard the other day?”_

Bringing Joel to a full stop, right at the foot of the door – he gives a fatherly smile and asks; “ _What’s the hardest part about eating clocks?”_ She shakes her head, raising her arms and making a confused shrug. With a smirk, the punchline comes into play – “ _It’s time consuming.”_ Both of them share a laugh, and Ellie remarks that it’s a terrible joke.

_”Yeah, it’s one of the worst I’ve heard…well, goodnight Ellie.”_ Joel finally walks out of the doorway, closing it behind him, although slow and reluctant to remove his hand from the doorknob. On the opposite side, Ellie clutches the guitar closely, looking over it – before plucking a single note.

_**And I believe 'cause I can see,** _   
_**Our future days, days of you and me.** _   
_**You and me,** _   
_**Days of you and me.** _

 

**Author's Note:**

> Afterword -
> 
> The lyrics of the song performed by Troy Baker (Joel) in the original One Night Live, are from "Future Days" by Pearl Jam.


End file.
